Touchbistro

TouchBistro POS Review

Updated as of June, 2023

In this review of TouchBistro POS, I’ll be looking at one of the major players in the POS industry for restaurants. If you’re running a small business, it’s easy to forget about the importance of a point of sale (POS) system. With so many operational worries on your mind, you may never consider the importance of the platform you use to process transactions. If it’s been years since you’ve used a new POS platform, there’s a high chance that you’re missing out on some serious benefits.

Does this unique platform have what it takes to improve your business’s operations? Let’s take a look!

Overview of TouchBistro POS

TouchBistro is an all-in-one POS and restaurant management system designed to make your restaurant run easier, no matter the size or type. The system runs on Apple iPads and provides restaurateurs with a wide range of features to increase sales, deliver a great guest experience, and be more efficient.

With a focus on both restaurant operations and customer engagement, this restaurant management system has plenty of features (outlined below) you would want and expect with a modern all-in-one POS.

Something that makes this iPad POS so unique is its dedication to the hospitality industry. TouchBistro touts to be an all-in-one restaurant management system. Unlike many POS systems that focus on multiple niches, this company provides exclusive services to restaurants and other food and beverage establishments.

TouchBistro first began operations in 2010 and has powered 29k+ restaurants in over 100 countries. The company has made a name for itself in the POS industry and has offices and provides services in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, and Mexico.

The product has won multiple awards, including a LinkedIn Award for Top Startups in Canada and the Red Herring Top 100 Global Award in 2018, amongst many other industry awards.

Let’s continue with the TouchBistro POS review and take a closer look at the details!

Pros vs Cons

Pricing

TouchBistro gives you the ability to customize your POS based on your specific requirements and the number of point of sale terminals that you need, which we like since many venues are unique. Let’s take a look at TouchBistro’s pricing structure and see how much it costs.

Touchbistro Cost

• TouchBistro POS – Starting at $69/month*
• Online Ordering – Starting at $50/month*
• Reservations – Starting at $229/month*
• Gift Cards – Starting at $25/month*
• Loyalty – Starting at $99/month*
• Self-Serve Kiosk – Starting at $69/month*
• Digital Menu Boards – Starting at $20/month*
• *Hardware and additional fees may apply

Each software license is equal to one register. There are no contractual obligations. These packages are billed annually, so the bigger the software and hardware bundles, the more money it will cost upfront.

While Touch Bistro’s cost might seem relatively high, it’s very competitive to other point-of-sale system prices on the market. It’s also a good value for money when you consider the number of terminals and locations you have access to with each package. The company does an excellent job of providing different price points depending on the features and number of POS systems you need.

What about the installation of the equipment? Their support team is available during the initial setup and with scheduled sessions after that to help with configuring your equipment correctly. Alternatively, they offer premium configuration services for a fee that is customized based on your specific requirements and venue type.

Demo Video

Key Features

The primary factor that differentiates software for restaurant management is the quality of features included with the platform. Let’s take a look at some of the key benefits that make this iPad POS a unique solution for restaurants:

QSR Checkout Example

• Tableside Ordering – Provides staff members with the ability to input orders directly from the side of the customers’ table – this can increase the speed of service and prevent costly mistakes.
• Complete Menu Management – Quickly build menus, send orders to the kitchen, and make on-the-fly changes to tickets to ensure your customers get what they ordered. Set up tabs and split orders effortlessly through the platform.
• Inventory Management – Helps you keep track of items and prevent menu shortages — this helps avoid disappointment from running out of products.
• Staff Management & Scheduling – Manage employee hours, as well as track FOH staff performance and BOH efficiency.
• App Integrations – Integration partners like Chase, Worldpay, 7Shifts, Xero, and Quickbooks expand your payment and management options.
• Full Reporting System – This allows you to access your sales data and employee information remotely – this is an excellent way to keep your finger on your business’s pulse. It can help you improve your approach to business and increase sales.
• Floor Plan & Table Management – You can build your restaurant’s floor plan within your app to manage reservations and orders – this helps to prevent confusion for staff and increase efficiency both in the kitchen and on the floor.
• Kitchen Display System (KDS) – Streamlines communication between FOH and BOH for order accuracy and to increase efficiency.
• Self-Service Kiosk – Acts as an additional POS terminal and integrates into your KDS and payment processor.
• Digital Menu Board – Provides an alternative to static menus at a fraction of the cost.
• Customer Facing Display – Lets guests see and confirm orders in real-time, helping to avoid costly errors, keep lines moving, and ensure guest satisfaction.
• Online Ordering – Integrates with your POS to accept orders from your website with no 3rd party fees.
• Reservations – A complete reservation and guest management platform that helps restaurants tailor every guest experience while managing operations.
• Loyalty – Allows you to communicate with customers, build customer profiles, issue award points, and create purchasing incentives. Customer relationship management to gain insights into your customers to help provide personalized customer service and drive marketing opportunities.
• Gift Cards – Lets you create and sell physical and digital gift cards to help build restaurant awareness, drive cash flow, and keep customers coming back.
• Contactless Dining – Lets users use their own devices to view menus, place orders, and pay for no-contact ordering.
• 24/7/365 support – Dedicated specialists with knowledge of the industry available all the time. Free integrated remote support and daily backups.

Table Layout Example

As you can see, there are plenty of features on offer with the TouchBistro POS solution. And this is just the tip of the iceberg — you can spend hours searching through all the different components (over 200) this service has to offer.

Deployment Type

Almost all tablet-based POS solutions are “Cloud-based,” meaning they run off the Cloud via your Internet connection. TouchBistro is unique in that it is a hybrid; while it uses the Cloud, it does not fundamentally run off the Cloud and Internet connection, thus making it more stable.

All features are designed to work seamlessly without an Internet connection; however, TouchBistro does now have an “offline mode” available and can take payments offline.

Industries Served

As you can probably tell by the name, TouchBistro is meant for the restaurant and hospitality industry. While it’s mainly suited for restaurants, the additional platform categories allow you to use it for quick service, fast-casual, bars, clubs, food trucks, cafes, and breweries. As you can see, this isn’t a suitable POS system for retailers or eCommerce businesses.

In terms of business size, most of their clientele are small to mid-sized hospitality businesses. It’s not necessarily geared towards large multi-unit chains. Other software is better suited for national chains. The platform’s features and price packages will make it easy to scale to a larger-sized company. In this review, it’s safe to say that it’s a POS solution that is suitable for businesses of many types and sizes!

Ease of Use

One of my favorite features of the software is how easy it is to use. The App user interface is very modern, intuitive, and simple to navigate. Instead of dealing with a complex system that takes days or weeks to adapt to, you can quickly figure out how to use the software effectively – this can help you save time and money when it comes to training new staff. You can design your menus and restaurant interface to suit the intuitive processes you need to run your business for speed and efficiency.

Verticle Example for Full Service Restaurant

Having worked with other iPad POS systems, they’re not all created equal. In terms of ease of use, TouchBistro shines, and this is one of the most valuable components of the service.

Hardware

TouchBistro is an app that runs on an Apple iPad and works as a mobile point of sale (mPOS) – this is the hardware platform of choice for many modern business owners, but it does leave you without the option to use an Android tablet or any other devices. Still, if you have an iPad, or you’re willing to invest in one, it’s a robust and reliable hardware platform that can handle all of TouchBistro’s features.

You can also integrate the system with a range of different printers and cash registers. As an Apple partner, Touch Bistro can provide you with all the equipment you need, or you can purchase them independently.

I recommend obtaining all your hardware and software from your vendor, so you always get the latest equipment compatible with the software. If you try to piece equipment together to save a few bucks, you risk spending a lot of time troubleshooting issues when everything doesn’t work together.

Integrations

While TouchBistro doesn’t offer as many of the same integrations as some competitors, it does have what you need to build a fully functioning restaurant management system.

For accounting purposes, you can connect with MarginEdge or Shogo to integrate with QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage. On top of this, you can integrate with 7shifts restaurant scheduling software and Push Operations for staff scheduling and payroll.

There are several popular integration partners for inventory management to choose from. You can also use online ordering aggregators to connect with leading delivery platforms, or you have the option for TouchBistro’s Online Ordering if you have your own delivery drivers.

Also, as previously mentioned, it has an in-house loyalty program that you can use to create loyalty schemes for your customers – this is an excellent feature that can help you improve your brand’s reach. You can fully customize the loyalty program to suit your business’s needs.

Payment Processing

For merchant services, they currently have direct integration with the following payment solutions:

• TouchBistro Payments (their brand)
  
• TSYS
• Worldpay
• Moneris
• Square

With the available payment integrations as well as with TouchBistro Payments, customers can now accept payments offline.

It’s also worth noting that TouchBistro does have a “gateway” option that allows them to connect to any processing solution. However, this means there’s a middleman that will lead to additional costs. Luckily there are some big names that they connect directly to reduce that cost.

Customer Service

If you need to get in touch with your POS provider, you must have access to support at any time of day. Unfortunately, many POS companies don’t offer extended support hours — this can be an issue if you’re running a venue or restaurant that is open late into the night. Fortunately, TouchBistro does offer its clients 24/7/365 customer support.

The company also has an excellent online database of information that can help you solve common problems or search for issues related to your point-of-sale system. It’s incredibly comprehensive, so this is indeed a positive feature. They are also very active on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, where you can find useful information and videos about the product.

TouchBistro has an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau. But as with most large companies, there are some negative comments about the business online. Many of these negative comments revolve around long waiting times and inconsistent customer service. However, you’re not going to find customer support that is one hundred percent perfect all the time. But this isn’t an issue related to the platform itself.

Our Verdict

As you can probably tell, TouchBistro is by and large one of the most popular POS systems for restaurants on the market. With its range of features and credit card processing solutions, you’ll be able to scale this system to fit businesses of any size. Its hyper-focus on the restaurant niche ensures it has the solutions you need to improve your current operations.

With a subscription-based payment model billed annually, it’s very cost-effective compared to other top POS solutions, especially if you go with the hardware and software bundle. The more terminals you require, the steeper the upfront costs. However, the overall cost is still going to be less expensive than purchasing the “traditional” terminal-based point of sale, where you have to buy software licenses and a lot of sizeable bulky equipment.

If you decide to work with Touch Bistro, you’ll benefit from a feature-rich iPad-based restaurant management system with ongoing software updates included and 24/7 support. While its current integration limits do restrict you to a few add-ons, the rest of the service is perfect for both new and seasoned business owners.

Keep in mind: TouchBistro offers free demos of its platform if you want to try out its system before you make any commitments. It’s an excellent way to get a feel for the software before you hand over any money!

Get Free Demo

FAQ